PRESIDENT DETAILS SEQUESTER IMPACT

California would feel sharp bite if cuts are not prevented

The White House on Sunday detailed how deep spending cuts set to begin this week would affect programs in every state, as President Barack Obama launched a last-ditch effort to pressure congressional Republicans to compromise on a way to stop the across-the-board cuts.

But while Republicans and Democrats were set to introduce dueling legislative proposals this week to avert the Friday start of the spending cuts, known as the sequester, neither side expected the measures to get enough support to pass Congress.

Lawmakers instead were planning for a lengthy round of political jostling ahead of another budget showdown in late March that could determine whether the $85 billion in cuts to domestic and defense spending stick.

Republicans questioned whether the sequester would be as harmful as the White House predicted and worked on a proposal that could preserve the cuts while giving the administration more discretion to choose how to implement them. Democrats expressed worry that they might be forced to accept the cuts if the public outcry is not loud enough in coming weeks.

Seeking to raise alarm among a public that has not paid much attention to the issue, the White House on Sunday released 51 fact sheets describing what would happen over the next seven months if the cuts go into effect.

The White House said California would be hit hard.

The state will lose approximately $87.6 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 1,210 teacher and aide jobs at risk

The state will also lose approximately $62.9 million in funds for about 760 teachers, aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.

The state would also see approximately 64,000 civilian Department of Defense employees furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $399.4 million in total.

The sequester — worth $1.2 trillion over 10 years — effectively orders the administration to make across-the-board, indiscriminate cuts to agency programs, sparing only some mandatory programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. It is the result of a 2011 deal forged by the White House and Congress to reduce federal borrowing. It was intended as a draconian measure so blunt that it would force lawmakers to find alternative means of reducing the budget deficit. But while Republicans and Democrats have both made suggestions for how to do so, no plan has gotten enough support to pass Congress.

On Sunday, White House officials painted an ominous picture of cuts affecting a wide range of government services if the sequester takes effect — and spotlighted the impact in states that are politically important to Republicans.

Hundreds of teachers could lose their jobs in Ohio, home to Republican House Speaker John Boehner, officials said, and thousands of children might not receive necessary vaccines in conservative Georgia.

Obama’s aides said they would seek to make clear that Republicans are choosing to allow the cuts to go forward instead of agreeing to reduce the deficit by scaling back tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

“It’s important to understand why the sequester is going to go into effect,” said Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama senior adviser. “The Republicans are making a policy choice that these cuts are better for the economy than eliminating loopholes that benefit the wealthy.”

Republicans have rejected the idea of increasing taxes on Americans after more than $600 billion in hikes were approved in January. And on Sunday, some accused the administration of exaggerating the danger of allowing the cuts to begin.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said the Obama administration could manage the cuts — only a small fraction of the federal budget — without them interfering too much with people’s lives.

“There are easy ways to cut this money that the American people will never feel,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Republican congressional aides noted that the House last year passed bills to replace the sequester with other, less-indiscriminate cuts. “The White House needs to spend less time explaining to the press how bad the sequester will be and more time actually working to stop it,” said Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman.

While there’s little hope of avoiding the sequester this week, there will be plenty of political maneuvering.

Both sides, however, have acknowledged that neither has a plan designed to win passage and is instead meant to frame the debate in the coming weeks over how they want their rank and file to defend their position back home.

Congress is rapidly shifting focus to a new deadline that will serve as the last stand on the sequester: March 27. That is when the stopgap bill for federal funding expires — and without a new one, the government will shut down.